WordPress wp-content Base Template

This repository versions the wp-content directory only.

WordPress core is provided inside the Dev Container and is not committed to this repository. On container startup, /var/www/html/wp-content is linked to this workspace so the running site uses the files in this repo.

What Is Included

• PHP 8.3 on wordpress:php8.3-apache
• MariaDB running inside the Dev Container
• Node.js 20 for theme tooling
• Composer for PHP dependencies and quality tools
• WP-CLI for local WordPress management
• VS Code Dev Containers support

What Is Not Included

• No docker-compose.yml
• No versioned WordPress core files
• No committed database dump or local database volume
• No automatic third-party plugin installation beyond what you add intentionally

Prerequisites

• Docker Desktop
• Visual Studio Code
• Dev Containers extension

First Run

1. Clone the repository.
2. Open the folder in VS Code.
3. Run Dev Containers: Reopen in Container.
4. Wait for the post-start setup to finish.
5. Open http://localhost:8000.

Default local credentials:

• Admin URL: http://localhost:8000/wp-admin
• Username: admin
• Password: password

The bootstrap script will:

• start MariaDB and Apache
• ensure WordPress core exists in /var/www/html
• link /var/www/html/wp-content to this repository
• create wp-config.php if needed
• install WordPress on first run
• activate the epdc-base theme when present

Daily Development

Composer commands run from the repository root:

wp core version
wp user list
composer install
composer dump-autoload
composer run lint
composer run fix
composer run stan
composer run test

Theme tooling runs from the theme directory:

cd themes/epdc-base
npm install
npm run start
npm run build

Useful environment checks:

php -v
node -v
composer --version
wp --info
mysql --version

Repository Rules

• Open the project in the Dev Container, not directly on the host machine.
• Do not commit WordPress core files.
• Do not commit local database files or ad hoc SQL exports.
• Use Composer for WordPress.org plugins when they should be part of the template.
• Run composer dump-autoload after adding PHP classes under src/.

Template Notes

• The repository root is mounted under /workspaces/<repository-name>.
• Third-party plugins installed by Composer land in plugins/.
• Uploads are ignored by Git.
• If you want to preload a database, place .sql files in .devcontainer/data/ before starting the container.
• If you need to reset the local site, set WP_RESET=true in .devcontainer/wp-setup.sh and rebuild the container, then set it back to false.

Troubleshooting

If the container builds but WordPress does not load:

1. Rebuild the container with Dev Containers: Rebuild Container.
2. Check Apache logs with sudo tail -20 /var/log/apache2/error.log.
3. Check MariaDB with sudo service mariadb status.
4. Confirm the workspace link with ls -l /var/www/html/wp-content.

If Composer or npm dependencies are missing, install them manually after the container starts. This template keeps dependency installation explicit rather than hiding it in container automation.